The night before New York Fashion Week, Epsonyes, the printer company threw a very fashion-y party at Industria Superstudio.

It's not often that models, bloggers, and designers eagerly crowd around printers, but they did this week. An Epson SureColor F-2000 with a sheet of pop-art-inspired roses and a SureColor F6070 printing out t-shirts with Jeffrey Fulvimari designs on them drew attention to Epson's dye-sublimation technologyand direct-to-garment printing technology. Epson's dye sublimation printing technology featured on the SureColor F-Series of printers gives designers the ability to pattern their own textiles.

The F7070 is a 64-inch machine that works by a transfer process, first printing the design out onto paper that can be transferred onto fabric. The F6070, which is a smaller machine at 44 inches, prints directly onto fabric. Each uses Epson's UltraChrome DS ink that's designed to produce vibrant colors and an intense black. At $9,000 and $20,000, respectively, they're at a price point that could make them within the budget of many designers.

At the event, models wore garments made from the technology while
standing and lounging on Astro Turf and plastic flowers. Partygoers sipped tequila and hooked themselves up to a vitamin IV drip to ward off the alcohol's dehydrating effects.

Designs on display came from Kansai Yamamoto from Japan, who turned out kimono-inspired prints in modern shapes perfect for an urban environment, dramatically draped and patterned garments from Pineda Covalin, and floor-length full-coverage gowns from Maggie Barry of the United States.

For more, check out Yamamoto discussing Epson's textile printers before an October show in Istanbul, and see PCMag's review of Barbie Fashion Design Maker, which also lets you print clothing designs (on a smaller scale).

About the Author

Chandra is senior features writer at PCMag.com. She got her tech journalism start at CMP/United Business Media, beginning at Electronic Buyers' News, then making her way over to TechWeb and VARBusiness.com. Chandra's happy to make a living writing, something she didn't think she could do and why she chose to major in political science at Barnard Co... See Full Bio

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